Tom DiMatteo
This is my first post here since joining a few months back and I justed wanted to weigh in with a couple stories and a few pics... and a couple questions. Tons of great info on this site and some very knowledgable stormchasers!
June 4th: about 1:30 pm I decide I am tired of waiting around for a storm here in Austin, and surf around here and a couple of weather sites and decide I can stomach the drive to Wichita Falls (700 miles r/t), so off I go with a compass and hand drawn map... As I approach Wichita Falls around 5:00-6:00 I see some towers and an anvil and I think, hey this might be pretty easy... well that part was, and then all hell broke loose as I continued to Iowa park and Electra...
All the way listening to emergency weather reports from freaking Norman, OK! It was crazy with two or three storms going at once... I suddenly realized... crap I'm near some serious sh*t, and at that point I had to admit that I was lost so I started heading south as the rain and visibility were getting worse... I did manage a few pics which I posted here:
http://www.pbase.com/tcdrushgeddy/storms
I think I may have seen a tornado from afar, but I'm not sure and did not have a chance to try to photograph.
June 12: Same routine.. took off a bit earlier, minimal planning, but decide to try Abilene (475 miles r/t). Again without a laptop, and this time... no conversation on radio about any storms, basically no info, and no visible signs of much in the sky (at least to me). I later came to realize that if I had continued further N/W about 75 miles or so I would have been in the area of all the storms in Jayton and surrounding area's... I had no idea... I guess THAT was a horrible bust...
I guess my point is that if you are going to commit to making those drives, would you at least make sure you had internet or some kind of special radio available before making a trip? I know my answer is yes...
I know its possible to make a long drive and see absolutely nothing, but I was not that far away from some action in retrospect... but I had no idea. Anyway I feel good about taking my shots... any feedback welcome!
Also hoping I get another shot or two down this way... I am sure others feel like there have been plenty of shots in N texas relatively speaking
cheers,
Tom
June 4th: about 1:30 pm I decide I am tired of waiting around for a storm here in Austin, and surf around here and a couple of weather sites and decide I can stomach the drive to Wichita Falls (700 miles r/t), so off I go with a compass and hand drawn map... As I approach Wichita Falls around 5:00-6:00 I see some towers and an anvil and I think, hey this might be pretty easy... well that part was, and then all hell broke loose as I continued to Iowa park and Electra...
All the way listening to emergency weather reports from freaking Norman, OK! It was crazy with two or three storms going at once... I suddenly realized... crap I'm near some serious sh*t, and at that point I had to admit that I was lost so I started heading south as the rain and visibility were getting worse... I did manage a few pics which I posted here:
http://www.pbase.com/tcdrushgeddy/storms
I think I may have seen a tornado from afar, but I'm not sure and did not have a chance to try to photograph.
June 12: Same routine.. took off a bit earlier, minimal planning, but decide to try Abilene (475 miles r/t). Again without a laptop, and this time... no conversation on radio about any storms, basically no info, and no visible signs of much in the sky (at least to me). I later came to realize that if I had continued further N/W about 75 miles or so I would have been in the area of all the storms in Jayton and surrounding area's... I had no idea... I guess THAT was a horrible bust...
I guess my point is that if you are going to commit to making those drives, would you at least make sure you had internet or some kind of special radio available before making a trip? I know my answer is yes...
I know its possible to make a long drive and see absolutely nothing, but I was not that far away from some action in retrospect... but I had no idea. Anyway I feel good about taking my shots... any feedback welcome!
Also hoping I get another shot or two down this way... I am sure others feel like there have been plenty of shots in N texas relatively speaking
cheers,
Tom